Lena Dunham Apologises To Odell Beckham Jr. After Sparking Social Media Outrage

In case you somehow missed the social media flurry this week, Lena Dunham sparked outrage after she claimed that Odell Beckham Jr. didn’t speak to her at the Met Gala back in May because he didn’t think that she was attractive.

The athlete had never met Lena before and in her newsletter interview with Amy Schumer she sparked controversy with her report of the encounter.

The ‘Lenny Letter’ reads: “I was sitting next to Odell Beckham Jr., and it was so amazing because it was like he looked at me and he determined I was not the shape of a woman by his standards.

"He was like, 'That’s a marshmallow. That’s a child. That’s a dog.’ It wasn’t mean – he just seemed confused. The vibe was very much like, 'Do I want to f*ck it? Is it wearing a… yep, it’s wearing a tuxedo. I’m going to go back to my cell phone.’

"It was like we were forced to be together, and he literally was scrolling Instagram rather than have to look at a woman in a bow tie. I was like, 'This should be called the Metropolitan Museum of Getting Rejected by Athletes.’”

Geez, all the guy did was not speak to somebody he had literally never met before in his entire life, and Lena claimed that it was because she was too unattractive by his standards.

Needless to say, the amount of backlash that Lena’s piece sparked has forced the 'Girls’ actress to post a public apology on social media.

Writing on Instagram, Lena wrote last night: “I owe Odell Beckham Jr an apology. Despite my moments of bravado, I struggle at industry events (and in life) with the sense that I don’t rep a certain standard of beauty and so when I show up to the Met Ball surrounded by models and swan-like actresses it’s hard not to feel like a sack of flaming garbage.

"This felt especially intense with a handsome athlete as my dinner companion and a bunch of women I was sure he’d rather be seated with. But I went ahead and projected these insecurities and made totally narcissistic assumptions about what he was thinking, then presented those assumptions as facts.

"I feel terrible about it. Because after listening to lots of valid criticism, I see how unfair it is to ascribe misogynistic thoughts to someone I don’t know AT ALL. Like, we have never met, I have no idea the kind of day he’s having or what his truth is.

"But most importantly, I would never intentionally contribute to a long and often violent history of the over-sexualization of black male bodies - as well as false accusations by white women towards black men.

"I’m so sorry, particularly to OBJ, who has every right to be on his cell phone. The fact is I don’t know about his state of mind (I don’t know a lot of things) and I shouldn’t have acted like I did. Much love and thanks, Lena.”

However, Lena initially refused to apologise and dubbed those angry at her comments the “outrage machine”, saying when the news initially broke: “Glad the outrage machine roars on.

"My story about him was clearly (to me) about my own insecurities as an average-bodied woman at a table of supermodels & athletes.

”.@OBJ_3 is talented, stylish, seems super awesome and wasn’t into chatting with me at a fancy party .“

She claims that the change of heart comes after she spoke to filmmaker Xavier Burgin, who apparently explained why her comments were so offensive. Still, critics are less than impressed by the lengthy apology as Lena simply excuses her comments by blaming her own "insecurities”.

This isn’t the only time that Lena has caused controversy, previously sparking immense outrage after she admitted to “sexually abusing” her younger sister in her autobiography, 'Not That Kind Of Girl’.